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Deposits grow in March despite major slump in rates

Deposits grew by over half a billion euros in March, Bank of Greece figures showed on Tuesday, despite the significant decline in interest rates.

The sum of deposits Greek households and corporations have in local lenders amounted to 161.05 billion euros in end-March against 160.5 billion euros in end-February. This comes in the context of a massive drop in interest rates for savings by about 55 percent that in less than two years. The slide is set to continue through year-end, when rates are expected to reach below 2 percent.

Bank of Greece data also showed on Tuesday that credit expansion continued to be negative in March at a rate of 4.1 percent, showing no signs of a recovery. The net flow of funding was negative by 718 million euros and the balance of loans stood in end-March at 215.88 billion euros, down by 12.4 billion from a year earlier.